The present invention relates to processing image data in an on-line editing system.
On-line editing systems are known in which edit decisions are made with reference to the original source video material. Resulting output video, usually recorded onto videotape, then provides original material for broadcast or other purposes and therefore represents the final output product.
On-line systems are required to operate at full definition and are therefore expensive, particularly if they are to facilitate all of the creative tools available to an editor. Editing directly from video tape to create an output video tape may be referred to as linear editing, given that the time taken to locate a particular position on the video tape will be dependent upon the position of the frames physically on the tape. A recent trend has been towards non-linear editing in which video clips are digitised and stored on magnetic discs. In this way, particular video frames may be selected within a clip without having to rewind the tape such that the time taken to locate a particular clip is no longer related to its position within the overall sequence of frames. This type of editing is known as non-linear editing.
Non-linear editing suites are known in which source material is captured and stored at a lower definition, usually using spatial compression techniques. Edit decisions are then made at this lower definition, in an off-line editing process, resulting in a list of decisions being made which are written to a transport medium, such as a floppy disc, using decision list protocols. The edit decision list (or EDL) is then supplied to an on-line editing suite, into which the source material is captured, this time at full resolution and an output tape is produced in response to the decisions defined in the list.
In many situations, a collection of source material is used repeatedly to produce a plurality of versions which, although different, include many mutual similarities. Under these circumstances, each individual output sequence may be considered as a completely separate unit with its own respective EDL. Consequently, when the material is loaded into an on-line editing process, it is necessary to capture the source material for each EDL and to implement the procedure as if the source materials were completely unrelated. As an alternative, it would be possible to group all of the output sequences onto a single EDL which, although facilitating the capturing process, adds further complication to the editing procedure in that the individual output will be treated as a single large output with additional measures being required to delimit the individual sequences. Furthermore, problems could be introduced if new edit lines are introduced into the EDLs, resulting in subsequent sequences being displaced such that, at the boundaries, a particular edit line would be transferred from one output clip into its neighbour.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided image editing apparatus, comprising capturing means for capturing source image clips at full definition in response to edit decision lists; conforming means for producing output image clips in response to edit decisions defined in a captured list; and associating means for applying a specific bin number to a plurality of edit decision lists, wherein the capturing means is configured to capture all source material for a plurality of edit decision lists having a similar bin number; and the conforming means is configured to allow each associated edit decision list to be independently manipulated with reference to the captured source material. Preferably the source images are captured from video tape or cinematographic film. In a preferred embodiment the output image clips are written to an output tape. Preferably, the output image clips are stored on one or more magnetic discs.
Preferably, the association is implicit. The capturing means may load source material from a notional bin, defined by all source clips in the bin having a shared association number. The contents of the bin may be used by any EDL having that bin number referred to in a BIN command line. Thus, the association results from the fact that an operator has used the same bin number in more than one EDL.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of editing image data, wherein source images are captured as full definition data samples in response to edit decision lists and output images are produced by conforming the captured source images, comprising steps of associating a plurality of edit decision lists which refer to shared source material with reference to a bin identifier; capturing the source material with reference to edit decision lists having a similar bin reference; and manipulating individual edit decision lists with reference to the source material. Preferably, the output images are produced in response to the manipulated edit decision lists. In a preferred embodiment output edit decision lists are produced with conventional editing references to the output images and included comments referring to the source material. Preferably the encoded comments contain the bin identifier, the position of images in the source material and capture hints for capturing portions of the source material.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided data conveying media having data encoded thereon representing an edit decision list having conventional references to edited video material and encoded references to a bin identifier which refers to shared source material. Preferably the data conveying material is fabricated in the form of a magnetic disc which is transportable between machines.